High street stalwart Blockbuster is finally to shut down its remaining 91 stores with a loss of 808 jobs two weeks before Christmas, administrators said today.

The closure comes after they were unable to find a buyer for the movie rental and DVD chain. Stores will cease operating by Monday and all remaining stock will be sold by Sunday with discounts of up to 90 per cent.

Blockbuster had 264 stores and a 2,000-strong workforce when it went into administration last month.

End credits: Blockbuster's slow death on the high street came to an end today with the closure of its remaining 91 stores and the loss of 800 jobs

At the time administrators Moorfields
Corporate Recovery said 72 stores in the UK would shut immediately with
the loss of 452 jobs. It was the second time the DVD rental chain had
gone into administration this year.

Blockbuster first went into administration in January when it had 528 stores in the UK employing 4,190 staff.

After its rescue by private equity group Gordon Brothers Europe in March, it continued to suffer poor trading across both rental and retail sales. The business has been particularly hit hard by competition from supermarkets and the rise of online rentals.

Just last week, Sky upped the ante in the competition for online movie rentals by offering its entire back catalogue to its non-movie channel subscribers for as little as 99p per movie.

The brand has also suffered, under
different ownership, in the United States, where the axe fell on 300
Blockbuster stores in October, leaving the once-dominant chain with just
50 franchised shops still open in its home country.

Joint administrators Simon Thomas and Nick O'Reilly said: ‘It is with regret that we have to make today's announcement, we appreciate this is a difficult time for all concerned and would like to thank staff for their professionalism and support over the past month.

‘Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a buyer for the group as a going concern and as a result had to take the regrettable action to close the remaining stores.’

Blockbuster is far from being the only high street casualty this year. Earlier this week Barratts Shoes announced it was going into administration for the third time in five years. The chain which employs 1,035 across 75 stores and 23 concessions, has also been fighting for survival.